CONNECTING NATURE

26 April 2019

26 April 2019082

CONNECTING NATURE

The importance of co-creating open spaces in the processes of planning NBS

Nature based solutions (NBS) address variations of environmental, social and economic challenges of society in a sustainable way. Solutions derive from imitation of nature, are cost-effective and simultaneously ensure environmental and social well-being.

Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia is addressing possibilities of integrating, assessing ecosystem approach as a possible framework in NBS planning process.

The NBS concept is based on the imitation of nature processes. Analogy for planning open spaces can be found in the process local characteristics of the space. Part of this space are people who are in an interactive relationship with natural processes.

Current activities focus on addressing understanding of process of co-creating open spaces, the importance of integrating the users into the NBS planning process as key stakeholders, and

advantages and disadvantages of co-creating space with users according to the stages of integration.

In order to capture a comprehensive overview, in the next phases, emphasis will also be focused on examining the role of government bodies and planners in the planning process,

management and coordination of the planning process,

the importance of integrated planning,

ways of stakeholder participation

and assessment of success, NBS synergy in open spaces on cases of participating cities in the Connecting nature project.

The purpose of the CONNECTING NATURE project is to place Europe as the leading global force in the field of innovation and implementation of nature-based solutions in the development of cities and society. Learn more about the project on the link: https://connectingnature.eu/

Ljubljana – My City project

02 April 2019

02 April 20190994

Ljubljana – My City project

Renovation of building shells of buildings with the status of cultural heritage

Library of the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia

Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019 at 5PM

presentation in Slovene language, free of charge

The lecturer Karl Pollak, an arhitect and urban planner, will present »Ljubljana– My City project«, a project that has been ongoing since 1989 and includes the implementation of the renovation of building shells of monumentally important buildings. The motivation behind »Ljubljana - My City project« was the preparations for the 1991 World Designer’s Conference (ICSID 91), at which time the Municipality decided that rather than contribute to the customary glamour of such occasions it would be better to contribute funds to improving the city itself. At that time, a complete renovation was already underway in Ljubljana, where several buildings were renovated and plans for the revitalization of the old city core area were being prepared. However, the renovation then stalled due to social changes and denationalisation, the abolition of systemic funding sources and high refurbishment prices. Simultaneous with the restoration of individual important mansions and other buildings as part of the project they were also arranging public areas. In addition to that, the City of Ljubljana is also doing away with architectural obstacles which prevent wheelchair users and other disabled persons, including the blind and partially sighted, from moving around the city and having access to individual buildings. The project is still active but is now known under a different name. By restoring facades and roofs, arranging an open urban space - squares, streets and embankments, and eliminating architectural barriers, the city of Ljubljana follows the development flows of western European cities - although not with a complete renovation, which is virtually impossible to implement in our environment due to the fragmentation of ownership and lack of system resources. Nevertheless, the city is becoming not only more friendly to the inhabitants, but also more attractive for investments, the development of tourism, congress industry, etc. There is also a growing awareness of the importance and value of cultural heritage buildings.

Karel Pollak is an architect and urban planner that works at the spatial planning department within the City Municipality of Ljubljana. He has been running the project "Ljubljana - My City" for more than 25 years, and has been involved in many other tasks in the area of regulation and use of public spaces.

You are kindly invited to the presentation and the discussion that will follow. More info at info@uirs.si.

CONNECTING NATURE

29 March 2019

29 March 2019031

CONNECTING NATURE

CONNECTING NATURE at the presentation of UIRS research activities to the higher professional school Environmental Protection and Municipal Services of the Novo mesto School Center

Since CONNECTING NATURE addresses contemporary approaches to planning, management and maintenance of cities, the project was briefly presented to the students of the higher professional school Environmental Protection and Municipal Services of the Novo mesto School Center, which visited the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia on March 29th, 2019.

CONNECTING NATURE

28 February 2019

28 February 2019035

CONNECTING NATURE

The project referred to at the presentation of the research program Spatial Planning to the Administrative Board of the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia

Head of the research program Spatial Planning (2019 - 2023), financed by the Slovenian Research Agency, dr. Barbara Goličnik Marušić presented the concept, work and results of the research program to the board of the Institute.

Work under the program is carried out in four working packages:

WP1: Evaluation of modern developmental paradigms and orientations in order to determine their useful value in spatial planning processes.

WP2: Mobility and low carbon society.

WP3: Spatial demography, migration and social innovation, and housing challenges.

WP4: Development of methods and tools for the implementation of planning processes, and spatial , changes and simulations of in space development processes.

Among the challenges of WP1 Evaluation of modern developmental paradigms and orientations in order to determine their useful value in spatial planning processes, as an example of linkage of research projects and basic research conducted within the research program she referred to CONNECTING NATIRE project with the subject All-inclusive paradigms / approaches / concepts relevant to spatial planning: Interpretation of the NBS, and pointed out the added values of the project to the topic of the research program.

Lessons in collaborative place making

24 December 2018

24 December 201801969

Lessons in collaborative place making

Lecture in English, free of charge

Library of the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, Tuesday, January 15th 2019 at 5pm

Although there is growing support for the principle of citizens co-creating places together with local authorities and the private sector, there still seems to be a disconnect between the desire to engage the public, and the reality of the standard consultation procedures followed. It is time to change the way things are done and to bring communities genuinely to the heart of planning and placemaking. This lecture will present innovative methods of co-creation (i.e. collaborative place making), and how they can be applied at a local-level. What new possibilities might open up if there was real co-creation in place-making (as to opposed to consultation, which is often only a step away from tokenism)? How should pre-event activities be fed into and help inform design-led events? How can the impact of outcomes from design-led events be tracked during the follow-on stages of collaborative community planning? What constitutes effective best practice for clarifying the level of substantive planning and design expertise a facilitator requires, if any, at any given community design event? This research presented by the lecturer provides an important scoping of the many components and steps involved. Its findings will aid understanding and ultimately enhance the output performance of community participatory design processes.

Dr. Husam AlWaer (B.Arch, MRTPI, Ph.D, BREEAM AP, AoU, Recognised Practitioner in Urban Design RPUD) is an urbansit with a background in architecture, urban planning and sustainability, who writes and speaks extensively on making better places. He is an award-winning author and curator of events, focussing on issues of place making and urban design practice and their social impacts. He is an educator and facilitator and moderates events nationally and internationally. He is a Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Urban Design and Evaluation in the School of Social Sciences (Architecture + Urban Planning), University of Dundee. Dr. AlWaer has a passionate interest in the future of sustainable places and towns, in particular the development of new thinking on processes and methods to unlock sustainable urbanism and the way these processes are facilitated and managed.

You are kindly invited to the lecture and the discussion that will follow.

PUBLIC SPACES AND LOCAL LIFE

23 October 2018

23 October 201801242

PUBLIC SPACES AND LOCAL LIFE

A special issue of Urbani izziv

A special issue of Urbani izziv PUBLIC SPACES AND LOCAL LIFE has been published. The contributions were selected at the Human Cities Ljubljana 2017 international event organised by the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia and the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Ljubljana within the international cooperation of EU Human Cities (www.humancities.eu) and AESOP thematic group Public Spaces and Urban Cultures (https://www.aesop-planning.eu/blogs/en_GB/urban-cultures-and-public-spaces). The publication brings new insights into the topic of participatory planning and maintainance of public space. For a free access follow this link: https://urbaniizziv.uirs.si/kazalo_p/id/70/id_k/p

Project LUMAT

25 September 2018

25 September 20180913

Project LUMAT

Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, September 26th-27th 2018

After the @interregCE @Lumat_project conference #cooperationiscentral and #ECDay2018 project meeting will be hosted by the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, http://www1.uirs.si between 26th and 27th of September 2018 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Participatory Budgeting in Chicago

04 September 2018

04 September 201803787

Participatory Budgeting in Chicago

Lecture in English, free of charge

Library of Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, Tuesday, September 18th 2018 at 5pm

Library of Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, Tuesday, September 18th 2018 at 5pm

Teresa Córdova will discuss Participatory Budgeting (PB) in the city of Chicago and describe the role of the Great Cities Institute (GCI) in facilitating this democratic process of determining public spending. The presentation will include a history of participatory budgeting and describe the process and partnerships for making this process a success. In addition, the lecturer will also discuss the challenges of PB and strategies for overcoming them.

PB is a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. It offers people a fundamentally different way to engage with government. The United Nations has promoted PB as a best practice of democratic governance. In February 2012 GCI partnered with The PB Project and a broad coalition of aldermen, city-wide institutions, and community-based organizations to launch PB Chicago. PB Chicago aims to implement and expand PB processes and direct democracy throughout Chicago. GCI is the lead university partner on PB Chicago, responsible for providing overall project management, community engagement, and evaluation. Since 2012, PB Chicago has engaged over 13,000 residents in twelve different communities in directly deciding how to spend over $18 million in public dollars.

Teresa Córdova is the Director of the Great Cities Institute (GCI) at the University of Illinois in Chicago. She is also Professor of Urban Planning and Policy in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs (CUPPA) and an affiliate faculty of UIC’s Departments of Sociology, Gender and Women Studies, and Latino and Latin American Studies. Prof. Córdova received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley. She has received multiple recognitions for academic achievement and leadership including recognition of her role in infrastructure planning and in developing a small business incubator and commercial kitchen.

You are kindly invited to the lecture and the discussion that will follow. More info at info@uirs.si.

LUMAT international conference “Future challenges of land management”

30 August 2018

30 August 201801516

LUMAT international conference “Future challenges of land management”

Contributions of LUMAT project to European experiences

Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia, the 25th of September 2018

On the 25th of September 2018 the international conference “Future challenges of land management” will be organized within LUMAT project in Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia.

The conference will focus on the role of the integrated spatial and regional planning and the importance of urban regeneration for the prevention of urban sprawl and reduction of land take. To achieve land take targets for 2050, planning solutions must include beside others also compensation measures and environmental management tools already introduced in various European regions. Good practices and solutions will be presented by the LUMAT partners and invited speakers.

LUMAT project is co-financed by the Interreg Central Europe and addresses the problem of unsystematic management of degraded urban areas and poorly exploited business zones. The main aim of the project is the preparation is the preparation and implementation of integrated environmental management plans in functional urban areas and the implementation of pilot projects in seven central European countries including Slovenia with the pilot project in the City of Kranj.

The conference is organized by the LUMAT project and the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial planning of the Republic of Slovenia.

LUMAT project meeting

24 May 2018

24 May 201803037

LUMAT project meeting

24th and 25th of May 2018.

LUMAT project meeting, co-financed by the INTERREG Central Europe Programm is running at the Urban Planning Institite of the Republic of Slovenia in Ljubljana between 24th and 25th of May 2018.